Second edition of AUTO SCM Summit kicks off in Pune

The second edition of Auto SCM Summit had a grand opening at Courtyard Marriott
Chakan, Pune with a full house attendance of industry stakeholders. Organised
by Indian Transport & Logistics News (ITLN), the two-day event is themed on
“Creating a modern and agile supply chain for auto industry in the digital
age”.

The summit brought together supply chain managers of
automotive manufacturers, logistics service providers, airports and airline
operators discussing ideas and sharing best practices to mutual benefits. With
Indian automotive industry being one of the largest in the world, AUTO SCM
Summit played a perfect platform to network with the right set of business
associates.

The automotive industry accounts for 7.1 percent of
country's GDP. India is also a prominent auto exporter and has strong export
growth expectations for the near future. According to Society of Indian
Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) report, the industry produced a total 17,097,096
vehicles including passenger and commercial vehicles, three wheelers,
two-wheelers and quadricycle in April-October 2017 as against 15,811,071 in
April-October 2016, registering a growth of 8.13 percent over the same period
last year.

Making an opening remark Roland Weil, vice president,
sales, Cargo, Fraport AG, said, “We all know that air freight consists of a
small portion of shipments coming from automotive supply chain and when it
comes to air shipment it is time and cost sensitive. In the next five years, we
would still like to be the largest air cargo gateway in Europe to the world.
Our aim is to carry 3.2 million tonnes of cargo at airport, 2.2 million by air
and another million by road this year.”

The session delved upon topics like how vehicle
manufacturers are operating more flexible production techniques with smarter
supply chains and how sophisticated demand planning, variable cost structures
and better integration with suppliers is making the automotive supply chain
easier to manage. The panel members also spoke on how intelligent forecasting
and inventory management are not just improving efficiency but also driving a
seamless supply chain and role of ports, airport, carriers in enhancing the
logistics value chain for the auto industry.

Highlighting the scenario of the airports in India,
Gazder said, “By 2020 Indian aviation sector is poised to be number 3 in the
world. Pune airport stands at number 4 in handling total cargo after Chennai,
Ahmedabad and Kolkata. We have an international cargo terminal in Pune and will
come up with a new Integrated Cargo Terminal in Pune in the next 36 months.
This will augment the capacity and make the facility future ready.”

Shubhendra has extended support and invited
suggestions from the industry. He informed that in the next six months, the
entire system will be full-fledged digital. “We have started international
cargo shipment in Pune and soon will start transshipment cargo from Pune
Airport,” he added.

“For us the key is to improve data efficiency and
quality. This will result in efficiency in operations. However, infrastructure
bottlenecks are creating shipment problems,” stated Vohra.

Meanwhile Borkar, “We heavily invest in training and
on better forecast and upstream and downstream of supply chain. We are moving
to forecasting techniques. We focus on agile supply chain and the new
terminology that is making a buzz in the industry is 'Leagile' (lean + agile)
supply chain. Also, we need to make careful decision on where to mechanise and
where to automate.”